Four Month Old Esther

• At Esther's four month checkup she weighed 12 lbs. 10 oz. and was 24 inches tall.
• Esther is a calm, happy girl. She smiles a lot--her smile is big and open-mouthed. She still doesn't do what I would call a real laugh but she definitely makes sounds to let you know she's excited about something.
• Esther can carry her side of a conversation. I love talking to her and hearing her little coos in return. She is quite expressive.
• Esther's favorite toy is her Infantino frog. (Austin had one, too, which he practially wore out from chewing on it so it's nice that Esther was given one of her own.) It's one of the few things that she can manipulate into her mouth--lightweight enough to pick up yet lots of convenient parts to get a grip on.
• Esther tolerates tummy time in short spurts but then starts complaining. Consequently I probably don't give her enough time on her belly--she is nowhere near rolling over. Perhaps she's destined to be a late roller/sitter/crawler like her big brother.
• When you carry Esther upright against your body, she wraps her arm around your shoulder and holds on pretty tight. I love this.
• Esther became really good at falling asleep this month. She goes down at night around the same time as Austin and falls asleep within minutes if not seconds. She falls asleep pretty quickly for naps, too.
• Esther is not quite so good at staying asleep, especially at night. She has been waking up twice at night to be nursed all month. At least one of those feedings is really short so I know it's more for comfort than nutrition, but we're not quite ready to let her cry it out yet. (Just picking her up and comforting her doesn't do much.)
• Esther usually takes four naps a day. Most naps are an hour long but occasionally we hit the jackpot and get a two hour nap or longer. How or why those long ones happen is a mystery to me.
• Esther still doesn't take a bottle very well. That is frustrating to me because it makes going out in the evening difficult. (For our church small group, my book group, etc.) We have tried different bottles, different positions, distractions, no distractions...doesn't seem to make much difference. She likes her mommy best.
• Esther is growing up too quickly. Of course. I will probably write this every month.